A Promise Kept
by stealthclaw
Summary: The connection had broken between the worlds. But still, Riko continued to hope. And she'd say it as many times as it takes. "Cure up Rapapa, I want to see you." Takes place during the time-skip in episode 49, pre-reunion. Spoilers for Mahou Tsukai Precure's episodes 49 - 50. [Twelve Shots of Summer: Hexa-Code Kernel]


**Hi everyone! This is my first one-shot for Twelve Shots of Summer: Hexa-Code Kernel. I know I'm extremely late (sorry guys!) but I really enjoyed working on this. Well, here goes!  
Note: I know the official spelling of her name is Liko, but since most of the fandom is used to calling her Riko, that's what I went with.**

* * *

**A Promise Kept**  
**Twelve Shots of Summer: Hexa-Code Kernel**

It wasn't even six o'clock when Riko woke to the sound of something heavy rapping at the window.

"Just a minute…" she muttered. She curled up under the sheets, willing the daylight to sink back under the horizon and let her peacefully dream.

_Klunk klunk. Thump!_

She winced at the weighty sound. That was definitely going to leave a mark. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't willing to wait for her to wake up at her own pace, nor was it interested in keeping her window's glass crack-free.

Her landlord wasn't going to like that.

She groaned and pushed herself into an upright position, rubbing her eyes before opening them a crack. The summer sunlight glared at her something fierce. She squinted through it, searching for the window.

A pair of pegasi were watching her intently.

She gave a sigh. "Look, you two…" She got up, grabbing her wand from her bedside table as she went.

"_Cure up Rapapa_, open the window," she mumbled groggily, too lazy to fumble with the latch that was always getting stuck. The windows promptly flew open at her command.

She leaned on the frame. "You know I don't wake up till 6:30, right?"

The bigger pegasus beat his wings and neighed indignantly. Riko suppressed a smile. Grown though he may be, he still acted like a baby.

The slightly smaller pegasus, his mother, nudged him. _Don't be rude_, she seemed to be saying. The younger pegasus blew through his nose in response.

"Alright, alright." Riko chuckled.

She grabbed a pack of biscuits her bedside table, left over strawberry-frosted biscuits that she had left lying around the night before while she had been up grading papers. She eyed them wistfully. They never quite replicated the taste of the strawberry melon pan that she had often eaten as a kid, but they came somewhat close – just close enough.

Riko held out the biscuits to the pegasi. Their eyes followed her movement.

"Are these what you're looking for?" She asked.

The younger pegasus reached to snatch the entire pack with his teeth, only for his mother to block him and look to Riko expectantly.

She hummed in agreement. "You're right, Mama Pegasus. Wouldn't want to overload you both with sugar, now would be?"

She extracted two cookies from the bag, careful not to get any frosting on her fingers, and held them out, her palm outstretched. The two horses sniffed at her and took the treats from her; the mother, delicately in her teeth, and the son, enthusiastically, with icing smearing his fur.

"You really like those, don't you?" She said.

They blinked at her.

She smiled softly. "I do too. Though maybe not for the same reason as you both." Her heart felt heavy.

The mother pegasus, as if sensing her melancholy, leaned her head into Riko's hands. She smoothed her white fur down and remembered the time she had first encountered the pair of pegasi. She remembered _who_ she had been with.

"Yeah…" she closed her eyes. "I miss them, too."

The pendant on her chest glinted dully. Another morning, just the same as the last.

**00000**

If the Riko of six years ago had met the Riko of today, she would have been, no doubt, impressed beyond belief. Gone were the clunkily enunciated incantations that she used to stumble over in class. Gone were the explosions, the many backfired spells that blew up in her face figuratively and all-too literally. And long gone was the girl who desperately needed those summer probation classes.

In her own childish words, thirteen-year-old Riko would've called her a "most excellent magician." The one thing she's always dreamed of becoming. A proper witch, just like her older sister.

She'd even managed to get a teaching post at the Magic School, just like Liz had done herself, a few years ago. Not bad for a girl who once had been barely even able to ride a broom. (Though, the fact that she had also helped save the world as a kid probably didn't hurt, either).

Yes, Riko reflected, as she came home from work that evening. She was everything that her thirteen-year-old self had dreamed of becoming. But still…

As she entered her room, placing her books on the desk, she paused and stared at the photographs next to them. One picture, in the center, caught her eye. It was a group shot of three pre-teen girls, eating strawberry melon pan together at a park bench. On one side sat Riko herself, her violet hair practically hidden beneath the giant witch hat that she had often wore back then. Unlike the one she now wore snug over her head as part of her every day wear as a teacher, the one in the photo hung lopsidedly, as if threatening to topple over her eyes at any moment. In her hands, she clutched a bright pink melon pan with the utmost seriousness, as if she was judging it, but even looking at the photo now, she could see the beginnings of a smile threatening to form on her younger self's face.

Riko chuckled. Really, she had been quite childish back then, hadn't she? Always thinking she had to set the example for her the rest of the group. Of course, it hadn't fooled anyone back then, not one bit, and certainly not her friends.

Her eyes strayed to the girl on the left side of the bench, who was leaning over and trying to pluck the treat from Riko's hands, a mischievous grin on her face and crumbs all over her chubby cheeks. Blossoms haphazardly decorated her rose-pink hair, as if she had just rolled in someone's flower garden before the snapshot had been taken.

'_Haa-chan'_, Riko smiled fondly. She looked so…normal in this picture. A tad rascal-like, to be sure, but nobody that saw her would have guessed that the girl was actually a young fairy – or, for that matter, that she would become a _goddess_, of all things, only a few months later. Nor would they have guessed that Riko had had a hand in raising her from infancy (who knew that fairies grew so fast?).

She had been a bundle of joy from the very moment Riko had laid eyes on her. Even as childish as she was, Riko had often been comforted by her sweet yet surprisingly wise smile and cheerful laugh.

A blessing that she hadn't expected on that day, when she had bloomed into life from a tome that they had found, but one that she had loved all the same.

"You really became someone amazing, huh, Haa-chan?" Riko whispered, her eyes softening. "Well, baby birds do eventually fly away from their nest…"

The trees outside her window whispered softly in the evening breeze.

She picked up the photo and touched the side of her face, as if she could brush off the crumbs from the girl's cheeks even within the picture. Her chest squeezed with pain.

She sighed. "Even though you're with us always, though we can't see you... I wonder what you'd think of me now."

As if in response, the wind escaped through the window and into the room, bringing with it the scent of spring flowers. It rippled through her ponytail, almost like a sigh, as sweet and gentle as a certain fairy girl's laughter had always been.

"Heh, I really can't underestimate you, can I?" A smile tugged on her lips. It was just like her, really, to send her a sign, no matter how small. Just to remind her, she _was _close. It was happening far more often, recently.

It had been six years now, since that fateful day when the connection between the Magic World and the Mundane World had broken and had sent them hurtling away from each other across the cosmos. And though Haa-chan, no doubt due to her nature, could traverse the divide and thus exist across it, it also meant that for those first few years, Riko had never gotten a single sign of the goddess's presence, let alone a glimpse as simple as this gust of wind. The very fact that such an occurrence had become more common since last Christmas was telling. It meant that they were close, much closer to bridging the divide between the worlds.

And that meant being a step closer to finding the last two who were missing from her life.

Riko's eyes fell on the photograph and met those of the girl sitting in the middle of the bench between them, her tresses shining golden, with a smile to rival the glow of the morning sun. In one hand she held a melon pan, while in the other, she held a teddy bear with light brown fur and a pink bow tied around her neck. The teddy too, was smiling, albeit more discreetly, as if to not scare the unsuspecting person taking the photo.

'_Oh, Mirai and Mofurun…'_

Somehow, Riko could never separate the two in her mind. The girl and her teddy bear had been together since infancy and were as close as could be, even before the teddy had had come to life and learned to talk (a feat which nobody to this day could explain, though Mirai had attributed it purely to Riko's accidental magic…not that anyone had a better suggestion).

They had been the first people that Riko had met in the Mundane World, and if it wasn't for their friendship, she honestly wasn't sure where she would be today. Everything about their meeting on that day had felt like fate. From the way Riko had _just happened_ to see Mofurun fall out of Mirai's basket, to the way a dark magician searching for the legendary Linkle Stones _just happened_ to have followed Riko from the Magic World into the Mundane, to the way she and Mirai _just happened _to have matching halves of the same diamond pendant, which _just happened _to actually be one of the Linkle Stone.

Maybe one coincidence or two, she could wave off, but several in one day? That was destiny. It was a miracle. It was _magic._ And it changed her life in ways she would have never even thought.

If it wasn't for this meeting, she would have never met Haa-chan. She would've never realized her dream and probably would've continued trying to one-up her sister for the rest of her life. She would have never become Cure Magical, one of the three legendary magician warriors of the Magician Pretty Cure. She would never have come to appreciate the wonderful things in the Mundane World that her own home couldn't replicate. She doubted she would have even made it out of that probationary class, for that matter.

Honestly, Riko couldn't even begin to imagine what life would have been like, if she had never met those two that day.

Mofurun, who was sweet and level-headed, and always gave the best hugs when Riko was sad. Who lent an ear whenever Riko worried over fitting in with the kids at Mirai's school. She was sure that she'd never be able to look at another teddy bear without remembering Mofurun, and the warmth that she had shared with her.

And then there was Mirai. Riko rested her forehead against the photo frame with a sigh. In all her nineteen years, Riko had never known another soul that shone as bright and boldly. To her, Mirai was…well…like the sun itself. She always had an optimistic thing to say, and a reason to see each new day as exciting and beautiful as the next. It was just who she was.

Riko smiled to herself and reminisced.

Mirai had clasped her hand in her own, looked her in the eye, and decided she was going to befriend her no matter what Riko had to say about the matter. She was her very best friend in the entire universe. She was the one she loved most of all - though perhaps it was selfish to admit, for she loved all her friends – because it was Mirai who had, before anyone else, looked at her and believed wholeheartedly and so stubbornly in her. Mirai, who made everyday miracles happen like it was nothing, who taught her to believe in herself.

The miracle to her magic.

Riko sniffled. She wiped her eyes (when had she started tearing up?) and pulled away from the photo. More than anything…more than anything else in the world…

"I miss you. I just want to see you." The words fell from her lips before she could stop them. "Haa-chan, Mofurun, Mirai…everyone…"

She knew in her heart, that it was impossible. It had taken _years_ for Haa-chan to even begin sending her signs, and she was a goddess. What hope did Riko have of ever reaching the Mundane World, reaching her closest friends, no, her _family_, when she couldn't even do anything? She couldn't even become a Pretty Cure anymore. That power had disappeared during the worlds' divide, as Mirai and Mofurun were torn away from her grasp.

She still remembered the grief on Mirai's face. The pendant on her neck fading to a muted pink, and Mofurun's eyes lifeless, the eyes of a mere doll, while they fell back down to their world.

Riko touched her own pendant. She always wore it fastened on its chain, even now. Truthfully, maybe there was no point. Her half of the Diamond Linkle Stone was as useless as it had been before she had ever met her friends. Just a trinket at best. But not a day went by where she could bring herself to leave it at home.

She wondered, sometimes, if Mirai ever wore hers. She probably did, though Riko wondered if even Mirai was optimistic enough to hope that it carried any of the magic it once had.

Then again, it had also been Mirai, along with Haa-chan, who had first come up with that spell that day. Their very own promise.

"_Cure up Rapapa! Let us be together forever!"_

"_Cure up Rapapa! Let us always be friends!"_

"_Cure up Rapapa, let us definitely, absolutely, meet again!"_

Her hand found the wand her pocket. It was the same wand on which she had made that promise. She grasped tightly, bringing it to her chest.

She glanced out the window. The moon was beginning to rise outside. Its glow seemed to beckon her, as if tonight would be different. More than anything, _she_ wanted it to be different.

It wasn't that she didn't know happiness. She had a future, and friends, and practically everything was falling into place for her. If that wasn't a form of happiness, she didn't know what was. But more than anything else in the world, she wanted to know it with _them_ by her side.

She exhaled slowly. The breeze seemed to stir around her in anticipation.

She knew it was silly, that after six years of making the same wish every night, it wasn't like anything would change. But as long as she drew breath, Riko would continue to hope.

"Cure up Rapapa…I want to see you." She whispered.

The air around her stilled. For a moment, she swore her wand glinted a tad brighter, felt a little warmer in her hands.

Then it faded, and Riko's smile with it.

"Cure up Rapapa….Cure up Rapapa…!"

Of course it wouldn't work. She bit back tears of frustration. There was no use crying over something she knew was inevitable.

Wiping her eyes, she missed the way her wand and pendant glowed once more, even brighter than before.

"What was I even thinking." She muttered to herself. "Maybe I should just– "

_Bang. _Suddenly, her windows blew open. Riko whipped around, her hair in a frenzy as flower petals danced around her frantically.

"What the-! Is that you again, Haa-chan?" She went to her window and looked out, confused. Nothing there.

Another bang, this time from her front door. No, not a bang. Knocking.

"Riko!" A familiar voice shouted.

Riko looked between her window and the corridor.

"Open up Riko, it's Emily! This is _important!_"

Making a quick decision, she ran to her apartment's front door, while the capricious breeze shut the window behind her, seemingly satisfied.

Riko opened the door, eyeing her former classmate with surprise. "Emily, what's the rush?" she asked.

The poor girl looked quite out of breath, leaning against the wall and panting. She clutched a worn broomstick in her hand. Her whole face was bright red, and between her disheveled hair spilling from its usual braid and her glasses threatening to slide off her nose, Riko suspected that Emily had flown halfway across the Magic Realm to her front door.

"The…trai…it's here…. Tracks lead…" She tried to say.

"What? Emily, come sit down, you look like you're about to have an asthma attack…" She led her into the small sitting room and sat her down on one of the chairs. "Now start over. What's this about tracks?"

Emily took a big gulp of air. "Riko, it's here."

Riko frowned. She wasn't making much sense.

"What is?"

Her classmate stared at her like she had seen a ghost. "T-The snail train. At the train station."

Riko's world stopped for a moment.

"_What?_ But…you just mean the train that goes to other parts of the Magic World…right?" She didn't dare to hope.

Emily shook her head. "No. I _saw_ it. I even asked directly. It's the same one," she took a deep breath, "The same one we used to use to travel to the Mundane World. They confirmed that new tracks have reappeared, and that they lead to…Mirai's world. It's…it's _here_, Riko."

Riko's world spiraled. "But that's…" She felt light-headed.

Emily jumped to her feet and steadied her. "Take it easy," she cautioned. She smiled gently, but Riko could see from her shaking fingers that she was hardly calm.

Not that she could remain calm, either. She touched her pendant, trembling. "Emily, do you think we could make it before the station closes?"

"I-I suppose? We'll have to call Jun and Kay too…and gosh, the Headmaster, we'll have to report it to him as well…"

Then was no more time to waste. "Let's go to the station. We can contact them on the way." Riko was already grabbing her broom and her old crystal ball.

"Wait, are you sure?" Emily squeaked as she tossed the crystal ball at her.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life. Now, come on!"

She was flying out the door before she could even think about it. Riko hardly even felt the exhaustion as they raced down several flights of stairs and out of the apartment building, kicking off into the air and soaring high. Overhead, the moon bathed them in silver light. She hardly heard Emily's voice as she fumbled with the crystal ball to inform everyone they knew of the news. For a moment, it was almost like she a was a thirteen-year-old kid again. Her heart pounded in her ears, and electricity coursed through her.

The scent of flowers on the breeze flowed past her and beckoned toward far beyond her sight, as if guiding them.

"You knew, didn't you? That's what you were trying to tell me," Riko murmured to the breeze. It swirled around her, confirming her guess.

She smiled. "Thank you, Haa-chan…for everything. I'll see you soon."

She swore she heard a familiar giggle echo in the breeze and couldn't help but laugh too, her heart soaring with exhilaration.

The wind blew at her back. It was almost like – no, it was pushing her forward. And as the train station came in sight, Riko's pendant glowed with warmth that she hadn't felt in six years.

"Mirai…Mofurun…Haa-chan…" she whispered. "Just wait a little bit longer…I'm almost there."

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**The prompt used here was "Open the seal". I've hard the urge to write something like this for a long time actually. We never get to see what Riko was going through during the split between the Magic World and the Mundane World, so I wanted to show a bit of what might have been happening on her side, right before the worlds reconnect and the girls reunite. **

**Honestly, I feel pretty rusty with writing, but it was still fun! Thanks for reading!**


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